Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Coaster Accident

I saw on the news that there was a roller coaster accident at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, two nights ago. I hate seeing these things happen. I love roller coasters, and anytime they get bad press, it concerns me. In fact, I hear from my mother-in-law every time there's a roller coaster in the news in a negative way. She hates the fact that my daughter and I ride them. In fact, my wife hated them, too, and if she knew my daughter, Melody, and I ride them for fun, and seek them out all over the country, she'd kill me.

The Magic Mountain accident was just that, an accident. A large tree branch apparently broke off from a tree and landed on the track of the Ninja roller coaster, and the coaster train derailed after hitting it. Four people were hurt and were treated at the hospital. Their injuries were not too serious, from what I understand. The coaster passengers had to be rescued by emergency personnel via ladder. The accident is still being investigated.

Melody and I were at Six Flags Magic Mountain over Spring Break, back in April. In fact, we rode Ninja. It's an interesting coaster, very similar in design to the old Big Bad Wolf, no longer operating, at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. It's a suspended coaster, which hangs down below the track. Ninja is located at the top of a large hill in the park, the "Magic Mountain", and actually coasts down the hill using gravity to propel it for a portion of the ride. It's a good use of the terrain, and I love coasters that use the terrain as a part of their design. I find it interesting that it is still in operation. I imagine it was built at about the same time as the Big Bad Wolf, but Busch Gardens dismantled it three or four years ago, citing that the ride had reached the end of its operating life. The fact that Ninja, as well as the Iron Dragon, another coaster of the same design at Cedar Point, are still in operation leads me to believe that Busch Gardens may have just wanted to make a change despite the popularity of the Big Bad Wolf. The Wolf's replacement, Verbolten, is an awesome ride itself. Anyway, regarding Ninja, I wonder if Six Flags will keep the ride depending on the seriousness of this accident. It's rather sad. They just recently announced that they will be closing another of their long-time coasters, Colossus, a large wooden classic coaster that was featured in the movie National Lampoon's Vacation, which the Griswold family rode at the end of the movie. Magic Mountain stood in for Wally World.

The timing of all of this news is poor, since Melody and I are packing for our next big road trip. We'll be visiting a couple of Six Flags parks over the next week. We're looking forward to visiting these parks and are praying for safety, health, and happiness. The house-sitter is here, Faithful Pup Scout and Macy the Hamster are with my parents, and we'll be heading out soon.

If you're the praying type, please keep us in your prayers while we travel. I greatly appreciate it. More news will be posted when I have the opportunity, though the blog may not be updated every day. Thanks for your understanding.

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